Although the Alexandre Pato move had been mooted for the past few weeks or so, it appears that predicting Chelsea’s next forays into the transfer market are becoming a little less predictable.
Matt Miazga is a name Blues fans are now more than familiar with but track back a few weeks and nobody would have ever known that he was on the club’s radar.
With Pedro and Papy Djilobodji’s arrivals seemingly coming out of nowhere to boot, Chelsea are now proving difficult to second guess in the transfer market.
Most of our regulars here in the tavern have to admit that they haven’t seen anything of Miazga in his fledgling career to date but the 20-year-old arrives at Stamford Bridge having racked up just over 30 Major League Soccer appearances for the New York Red Bulls.
With many on social media immediately casting doubt on his first team prospects while claiming a loan move to Vitesse Arnhem is in the pipeline, we’ve also read recently that Gary Cahill’s nose is apparently out of joint.
Under Guus Hiddink, the Dutchman has preferred a partnership of Kurt Zouma and John Terry at the back and with Roma now reportedly interested in Cahill, perhaps Miazga’s arrival may not simply be to sit on the bench or in the reserves.
Now the New Jersey native is on board, here’s a list of five things you may not know about Chelsea’s latest January transfer window signing.
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Click on the image below to reveal the five things you didn’t know about new Chelsea signing Matt Miazga.
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Despite representing USA, he holds a Polish passport
Premier League stars such as Arsenal’s Laurent Koscielny and Everton’s Phil Jagielka could’ve ended up playing their international football for Poland given their heritage and Matt Miazga is no different.
Born in Clifton, New Jersey, Miazga grew up in a family of Polish migrants and given his rapid rise to prominence in MLS over the past couple of seasons, things hotted up regarding just which international side he’d choose to represent going forward.
Opting for the United States in the end, Miazga boasts one senior international cap at present.
He already met one of his new Blues team-mates seven weeks ago!
Here’s one Chelsea supporters will love!
Around seven weeks ago now when no single Chelsea supporter may have foreseen both Matt Miazga and Alexandre Pato arriving at the club this January, the pair were pictured together out on a social.
With perhaps both players knowing at that stage that their next career step might be in London, it’s great to see the team spirit kick-started early!
His one career goal thus far came in the New York Derby
Standing at a domineering 6 ft 4 in, Matt Miazga’s attributes obviously include his height but while you think he’d be a threat from corners and set pieces, he’s only scored one career goal to date.
But what a time he picked to score that goal in the New York Derby nonetheless!
With NYCFC having enjoyed their first ever season as a Major League Soccer franchise last term, on June 28th 2015, Miazga’s 73rd minute strike added some gloss to a 1-3 away victory for the Red Bulls at the home of their new fierce rivals at the iconic Yankee Stadium.
He made his senior USMNT debut in November 2015
As alluded to on our first slide, Miazga eventually plumped to represent the country of his birth – the United States – last year and he made his senior international debut in a 2018 FIFA World Cup Qualifier.
Arriving into a game against St Vincent and the Grenadines as a second-half substitute, Jurgen Klinsmann will undoubtedly be calling Miazga into many more squads to come with many United States fans delighted that he’ll be learning his defensive trade from the likes of John Terry going forward.
He’s already won two MLS Supporters Shields
Whether you watch MLS or not, what’s important to note is that Miazga arrives at Stamford Bridge with something of a winning mentality.
Despite only bursting onto the scene in the last couple of years, the 20-year-old holds two honours in his spell with the New York Red Bulls.
Stateside, the team with the best regular season record wins the MLS Supporters Shield and despite not going on to win MLS Cup, Miazga was part of the New York Red Bulls sides that won the Supporters Shield in both 2013 and 2015.
